


hope is bitter work

by Ditta86



Category: Captain Harlock
Genre: F/M, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Male-Female Friendship, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22889449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ditta86/pseuds/Ditta86
Summary: post Illumidas conquest, even the most cynical of hearts looks for something to cling to.
Relationships: Maya/Mr. Zone (Captain Harlock)
Kudos: 5





	hope is bitter work

He looks up to the blank night sky while the smoke curls like a snake before being taken away by a gust of freezing wind. He grimaces. Fitting that they could no longer see the stars from their home planet, only a dark dome expanding indefinitely into indifference. As the stars were, so humanity’s dreams and future were robbed from them.  
Only a few remained, peppered across the vast void, twinkling faintly, still distant, and no matter how unimaginably hot their cores burnt, their light shone coldly, unimportant. 

Like what was left of hope for his kind.

They are alone, utterly abandoned by delusions of salvation from dashing heroes or benevolent deities. Their knights in shinning armors were crushed under the Illumidas, their best ships destroyed or remade to suit their invaders needs, not even their home planet, ever withstanding when all illusions of a living galaxy were shattered, no longer belonged to them.

He throws his cigarette on the dirt, watching its light fade slowly… Agonizing slowly… Even embers grew cold.

He grimaces.

“Zone”

The engineer turns his head. One of his crew comes along, with a radio small enough to be stylishly carried on her hip.

“Weren’t all human transmissions cut off by our new overlords?”, she chuckles.

“Yeah"

She simply hands over the earbuds. He is slightly disgusted by the prospect, discreetly cleaning them on the side of his coat before adjusting them on his ear. There’s some static that she removes by adjusting the dial a few clicks to the right.

_… for all friends of our beloved Home, I call upon you to keep the hope burning, no matter how small the flame, keep it alive, for one day…_

His eyes widen. He’d recognize that voice anywhere, and the feelings it sparked deep in his heart. Zone takes the device from his subordinate’s hands, not hearing her indignant plea, moving as far as he could from anyone else. He crouches on the shadows of an old army warehouse, reduced to a few bent walls after Commander Zeda’s forces put down a last attempt from a few men to rebel against Illumidas’ rule.

Made the transmission filling his ears now the ever more haunting.

_It’s easy to lose oneself in this storm, to let our hopes be washed away, to lose faith that the sun shall rise again, but I am here to tell you, my friends, that those are but passing clouds, no matter how great they may seem. This isn’t the first darkness we face. This isn’t our first winter. And we shall live to see their end as we always did, together, holding each other’s hands. Embracing each other tightly against the night._

Zone grips the radio. Grey static fills his ears, spreading under his skin. A terribly fragile frequency, as flickering as the message it tried to preach. 

_No, please. I can’t lose you again._

_… I now part, but only for a little while. Promise me you will be here when I return, my dear friends. Goodnight, from the Voice of Free Arcadia._

Then more static. Silence. Dead. _For a little while_. He takes out the earbuds. If she still lived, then of course she would do something like it, no matter how useless it was. He laughs. He laughs so hard, he tries to muffle it with his hand, and it breaks into small warm droplets of tears on his palm. Zone watches them melting, running down his wrist.

Logically it was just a biochemical reaction to an unexpected event, the news of the survival and persistence of who and what he believed to be long dead. And logically, those droplets were insignificant in their efforts to mellow him, as were Maya’s efforts to instill hope in a conquered, demoralized people, feeble against the enormity opposing them.

Pretty words weren’t going to save them, hope was useless in face of weapons capable of turning entire planets to galactic dust, and holding each other would do little but trick the brain for a second that they weren’t going to die alone. Those were the hard cold facts, Miss…

_“Voice of Free Arcadia”_

_Her eyes finally turn back to him. A hint of sadness always haunted them, and the purple hazed twilight brought out an ominous glow to them._

_“It’s certainly a mouthful”, she ponders, “But I like it. Wonderful idea, Feydar!”_

_“When my ideas aren’t?”_

_He smirks. She chuckles, parting her lips to tease him with an example, when the world around her turned blurry. Her knees give out, and she’d would have hit the floor if not for Zone’s supporting embrace._

_“Sorry..”_

_He brushes her hair with his fingers, then slides his hand down her back._

_“I’ll take you back home, Maya”_

_“It’s up the hill, Zone”, she gives him a faint smile, “It’s hard work”_

_“Not if I’m carrying you”_

_The sun is gone, but its light still paints the sky. The breath of fresh hair at the top of hill had renewed her strength, and her feet are again touching the ground, though her arm is still around his neck. The spectacle of the nature pales in comparison to how wonderful its reflection shines in her eyes, the sincere smile it paints on her sad lips. Maya leans her head against his shoulder. He doesn’t know if she thinks of him, and it doesn’t matter, though he hopes…_

Zone looks up again. The night remains stark cold and dark. The vast indifferent dome stretch above them, moonless, nearly starless…

He picks another cigarette and hunches over to spark and lighten it. It’s warm between his fingers. The first drag curls up to the skies, taken away by a freezing wind. Ashes as well, he watches the sparks dragged along. It would scatter and vanish. Amount to nothing.

But he hoped.

**Author's Note:**

> Slightly more introspective, finally something that isn't totally AU. Kudos and comments always appreciated!


End file.
